Martha and Snoop Bring Back the Pot in Potluck

What do Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg have in common? Other than serving time, these long-time friends share a passion for food and entertainment. It is of little surprise then that they are the hosts of VH1’s latest show, “Martha & Snoop’s Potluck Dinner Party”. While this show might appear to be a bizarre venture, its premiere episode proved to be entertainment genius and one of the most enjoyable ways of learning to cook.

In the premiere episode, Martha and Snoop battled it out to see who could make the best fried chicken, tapping actor Seth Rogen and rappers Ice Cube and Wiz Khalifa to be the judges of their friendly competition. This star-studded fest was peppered with a joviality and sharp repartee that made it much more exciting than the usual Food Network cooking show. Snoop prepared his very own potato chip fried chicken with Rogen, while Martha and Wiz (as she endearingly calls him) prepared a much more demanding traditional buttermilk variation. Wiz, ever the gracious guest, brought his hostess a gift basket of rather suspicious-looking homegrown green herbs which he helpfully sprinkled into the batter to tingle the taste buds. Needless to say, Martha and Snoop Dogg appreciated the gesture.

Unlike other shows, “Potluck” presents the perfect balance between cooking and discussion. Though the hosts appear to be polar opposites in terms of personality and background, it was the juxtaposition of these two and the reversal of their stereotypes that made the episode so unexpectedly delightful. Naturally, plenty of the jokes centered on weed, but most of them were delivered by Martha. Her dry and blunt (no pun intended) humor formed the perfect contrast to Snoop’s more relaxed quips. She even went so far as to add her own “bling” to her usual uniform of J. Crew and Brooks Brothers—if one would go so far as to count a single necklace as bling. At first, it was rather astounding to hear her puns and innuendos, especially as Rogen so lovingly commented: “If there is one person who knows how to make shit whiter, it’s Martha Stewart.” Ultimately, it was refreshing to witness this masthead of WASP culture and tradition finding her inner “hood.” Snoop Dogg, on the other hand, proved to be as equally versed in cooking as he is in rap. There was something about him sipping vodka cocktails and marinating chicken that screamed Stepford wife, in the best possible sense. His ease in the kitchen also made one wonder: Why hasn’t he had a cooking show before?

Along with their duties as chefs, the duo played the effective talk show hosts by making their guests participate in an informative round of Two Lies and a Truth, aptly called Two Thighs and a Truth. (Spoiler: Ice Cube did go to architectural drafting school). The show rounded off with a lively performance by rapper Anderson .Paak, in which the audience saw Snoop and guests break into some impromptu dancing. Regrettably, Martha did not join in.

Judging from this first one, the rest of the episodes in the series promises to be equally as charming and humorous, with a lot more delicious recipes, booze and special guests. I, for one, cannot wait until the next episode.